HC pulls up Centre over delay in supply of cheap gas to Gujarat

Court also rejects GAIL India's 'technical' reason for delay in implementating its order of supplying CNG to Gujarat at same price as Delhi and Mumbai

Gujarat high court on Tuesday pulled up Centre for not being able to meet the deadline of November 30 in supplying cheap natural gas under administered price mechanism (APM) to  Gujarat for domestic and vehicular use.

It also turned down GAIL India Ltd's 'technical' reason for delay in implementation of court's order of supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) to Gujarat at the same price as Delhi and Mumbai.

A division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala gave Centre time till December 10 to comply to its earlier order for supplying cheap gas to Gujarat. It has also asked the secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, New Delhi, to remain personally present in court on December 10 if the issue was not resolved by then.

The major dispute arose after the GAIL (India) Ltd decided to supply the increased quota of natural gas through Hazira facility, but the GSPC Gas Co Ltd requested it to shift its supply point to Dahej, from where the CGDs of Gujarat like GSPC, Sabarmati Gas, Adani and HPCL can take off the gas from the GSPL high pressure gas grid. The gas grid from Hazira is a low pressure line, which can supply gas at 35/45 bar, and from this law pressure pipeline, gas cannot be taken to the high pressure line.

The High Court had last year directed Centre to give CNG to Gujarat under APM on PIL filed by one Dhrangadhra Prakrutik Mandal which had alleged discrimination against Gujarat in allocation of natural gas at APM in comparison with metropolis like Delhi and Mumbai.

It had sought HC direction to the Centre to prioritize and diversify the unutilised natural gas from non-priority sector to the City Gas Distribution (CGD) for their domestic and vehicular usage, as directed by the Supreme Court in one of the cases to reduce the pollution level and cost of living.

Today, petitioner Dhrangadhra Prakrutik Mandal’s advocate Amit Panchal submitted before the court that local CGD had conveyed to GAIL on November 29 that the Centre had asked GAIL to make all swapping arrangements to implement the HC order in supplying gas to Gujarat’s CGDs. The court too noticed this and pulled up the Centre for not being able to work out the issue. In a guideline issued by the ministry to GAIL on November 14, GAIL was asked to make necessary swapping arrangement with all entities.

GAIL and the Centre finally got a rap from the court for being adamant in not accepting to change supply point from Hazira to Dahej.  The court noted in its order that since the Centre had assured of compliance to its order by November 30, there is no point for GAIL to deviate from this assurance.

“Knowing fully well that physically it is not possible to supply APM/PMT gas from the delivery pressure of 35/45 bar to a high pressure as grid maintained by GSPCL (Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd) , and if GAIL decides to connect the flow of gas through the delivery pressure of 35/45 bar, it amounts to violation of our order,” the court observed in its order.